Category Archives: Photographs: Nature

Photographs: Birds, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Wildlife

Sandhill Crane, Blue Sky

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Sandhill Crane, Blue Sky
A solitarty sandhill crane against blue California sky.

Sandhill Crane, Blue Sky. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solitary sandhill crane against blue California sky.

Those who photograph birds already know this, but the truth is that one typically makes a whole lot of bad photographs of birds along the path to getting some that work. Here I’m not thinking of “could have been better” bad, but rather of “that’s awful!” bad photographs — bird half out of the frame, bird out of focus, sky blown out, underside of the bird too dark, something other than the bird in focus, utility poles or cows in the frame, the list goes on. If I go out for a day of landscape photography the number of photographs I come back with may be in the double digits. With birds, a day’s worth of shooting is almost always over 1000 images… and most are not really great.

The issues are that birds don’t stand still, they don’t always pose against perfect light, the sometimes appear so suddenly that there’s no time to carefully think about things, the light can be challenging, and much more. Often you won’t know until after you make the photograph that it didn’t work… or that it did. The idea is to practice, become more attentive, to be there… and ultimately to increase the odds that you may catch something. Cranes most often keep clear of humans. I’ve watched them head toward me only to veer off to either side. But occasionally one sticks to its path and passed almost directly overhead… and I manage to track the thing and capture it in a pleasing instant of its flight.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature

Old Tree in Winter

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Old Tree in Winter
An old and gnarled tree, leafless near the end of winter.

Old Tree in Winter. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old and gnarled tree, leafless near the end of winter.

Having a large archive of photographs that are sorted and filed by date proves useful in lots of ways. For example, this past week I wanted to remind myself of the likely conditions of a particular subject I intend to photograph soon, and by looking back a few years I was able to get a pretty good fix on the timing of a pretty significant annual change affecting this subject. It also proves useful for non-photographic purposes… such as remembering how our world was starting to close down in March of 2020 and how we responded to it.

This photograph comes from near the beginning of March last year, at a time when we were well aware that danger was on the horizon, but when we had not yet fully responded as a society. (That was about to happen, and I should be able to share some photographs that remind me of that threshold in the next few weeks.) On this day I recall pausing beneath this sprawling wetland tree and appreciating the layers of curves and various sized branches leading upward toward an extremely bright late-winter sky.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Tree, Boulders, and Shoreline

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Tree, Boulders, and Shoreline
An old, gnarled tree grows among shoreline boulders, Yosemite National Park.

Tree, Boulders, and Shoreline. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old, gnarled tree grows among shoreline boulders, Yosemite National Park.

This photograph comes from a short trip to a popular Yosemite National Park backcountry lake more than a decade ago. It was the very beginning of autumn, and I managed to squeeze in a short escape between back-to-college meetings and the start of a new academic term. A group of fellow photographers was beginning a back-country stay of a bit more than a week, so I decided to join them for the first few days. (It turned out that my need to leave early was perhaps fortuitous — they reported to me that a few days after my departure an early season snow storm came in and dropped temperatures as low as five degrees!)

Autumn is the quiet season in the Sierra, or at least it was a decade ago. The summer crowds begin to thin after Labor Day, and by the end of September and the first half of October the backcountry seems almost deserted. It is a time to sit quietly and take in the scene before the winter snow arrives.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Fall, Photographs: Fall Color, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Autumn Light

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Autumn Light
Autumn light on a Sierra Nevada slope with early fall color.

Autumn Light. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Autumn light on a Sierra Nevada slope with early fall color.

This photograph come from that beautiful time of year in the Sierra Nevada when summer is drawing to a close, all the signs of the coming autumn are appearing, and the crowds diminish. (Or at least they used to — a subject for another post…) I’ve frequently written that the signs of autumn appear well before the calendar says the season arrives. This photograph comes from the first week of fall — weeks before the peak of autumn aspen color, but a time when many other autumn colors begin to burst forth.

I am a bit embarrassed to say that I’m not quite positive where I made this photograph back in 2009. I know that I came off the trail from a short backcountry photography trip on this day, and that some time after I made this photograph I seems (looking at my archive) that I went to some location where very early aspen color was beginning to appear. The likely time of day, the direction of the light, the relatively barren upper slopes, and the time of day all suggest a location near to or just east of the crest. But the exact spot? Not sure!

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

Blog | About | Flickr | Facebook | Email

Links to Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.